From the grand occupation of all of Holland and Belgium beginning on 10 May, the French and British in the Low Countries have now, on 22 May 1940, been pushed back into a shrinking perimeter north of Amiens and south of Antwerp. The main changes now are the steady compression of the eastern face of this “box,” which is well west of Brussels, toward the sea.
In Northern France, Rommel held his ground at Arras as he mistakenly believed he was facing 5 divisions of Allied troops when he was only facing 2 divisions and 2 tank battalions. Rommel still stands before Arras, waiting for the infantry to aid his assault on the key town. He also is recuperating from the large British tank attack of the 21st, which gave him quite a fright. Guderian, however, advanced toward Calais, Dunkirk, and Boulogne.
The Battle of Arras concludes with unsuccessful attacks by the French 25th Motorized Division against the German corridor.
The French 7th DIC (Colonial Infantry Division), supported by a handful of tanks, failed to retake Amiens.
German panzer divisions are pushing north toward Boulogne, Calais, and St Omer.
The main front is stabilizing to the south on the line Somme — Oise — Aisne.
The Battle of Boulogne and the Siege of Calais began. The British 20th Guards Brigade arrives by sea to help defend Boulogne. After the Franco-British counter-attack at the Battle of Arras on 21 May, German units were held ready to resist a resumption of the attack on 22 May. General der Panzertruppe (Lieutenant-General) Heinz Guderian, the commander of XIX Corps, protested that he wanted to rush north up the Channel coast to capture Boulogne, Calais and Dunkirk. An attack by part of XIX Corps was not ordered until 12:40 p.m. on 22 May, by which time the Allied troops at Boulogne had been reinforced from England by most of the 20th Guards Brigade.
British troops at Calais are under the protection of RAF fighters based in England, and the air battle begins at first light. Both sides take losses, but the RAF is able to attack the advancing panzers. The 1st Panzer (Generallautnant Friedrich Kirchner) and other formations get across the Authie River at 08:00. They meet only scattered resistance at Desvres, Samer, and near Boulogne. Guderian quickly tinkers with the plan and sends the 10th Panzer Division (Generalleutnant Ferdinand Schaal) toward Samer/Calais, and the 1st toward Dunkirk. The 10th Panzer has to stop to garrison Amiens until infantry units arrive.
The Guards had time to dig in around the port before the 2nd Panzer Division, which had been delayed by French troops at Samer, attacked the perimeter held by the Irish Guards at around 5:00 p.m. and were driven off after an hour of fighting. The Welsh Guards front was attacked at 8:00 p.m. and again at dusk, cutting off a party of the Irish at 10:00 p.m. As the day concludes, 2d Panzer is attacking Welsh Guards positions along the coast. At dawn on 23 May, the German attacks resumed, eventually pushing the defenders back into the town. About eighty light bombers of the Royal Air Force (RAF) flew sorties in support of the defenders of the port.
The German 18th Army is attacking Belgian Army in Eeklo sector.
The German 6th Army is attacking British 4th Infantry Division and 44th Infantry Division in the Courtrai sector.
Belgian forces retreated to the Lys River.
Belgium’s King Leopold has told General Weygand that the area still controlled by Allied troops only has enough food left for two weeks.
Dutch Premier De Geer begins working with the Nazis.
The Anglo-French Supreme War Council met again in Paris. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill flew to Paris to discuss plans for an Allied offensive. French Army commander General Maurice Weygand proposed an attempt to cut the German line to the Channel by attacks from the north and south. It was agreed that this should be attempted.
Weygand ordered his forces to pinch off the German armored spearhead by combining attacks from the north and the south. On the map, this seemed like a feasible mission, as the corridor through which von Kleist’s two Panzer Corps had moved to the coast was narrow. On paper, Weygand had sufficient forces to execute it: to the north were the three DLM (French Light Mechanized Divisions) and the BEF; to the south was De Gaulle’s 4th DCR (Armored Division). However, while the German position was far from safe, the opportunity had been lost. The delays had allowed the Germans to push more infantry divisions into the corridor and they had pushed further along the channel coast.
French General Gaston Billote died from injuries sustained during an automobile accident on the previous day.
Four volunteer ambulance drivers of the American Field Service with the French armies in the battle now raging in Northeastern France are missing and one is wounded, the service headquarters here announced today. Five others previously were reported missing.
All the action in the air is over the besieged Allied troops congregating near the Channel Ports. The action starts at 06:00, with 151 Squadron sending up Hawker Hurricanes, shooting down a Junkers Ju 88. No. 74 Squadron Spitfires also get a Junkers Ju 88 – both of the Junkers are from Lehrgeschwader 1 (LG 1). One Spitfire is lost. There also are some major dogfights over the area, with 54 Squadron and 92 Squadron mixing it up with JG 27 – both sides lose a couple of planes. The numbers become difficult to track, but both sides are taking roughly even losses.
RAF Bomber Command dispatches 59 aircraft to attack German columns during the day
RAF Bomber Command dispatches aircraft to attack various targets overnight
The French Air Force withdrew Potez 630 heavy fighters from front line service.
More RAF units depart from the Continent for England as their bases come closer to the front lines.
Destroyer HMS Wild Swan was near missed by a German bomb at Boulogne and suffered casualties.
Destroyers HMS Whitshed and HMS Vimiera escorted British steamers Biarritz (2388grt) and Queen of the Channel (1162grt), carrying an anti-tank company and one company of the 69th Anti-Tank Regiment, to Boulogne departing Dover at 0520/22nd. Whitshed embarked refugees and the steamers embarked 800 personnel, who were returned to Dover. British steamer City Of Christchurch (6009grt), carrying tanks, arrived later on the 22nd at Calais escorted by destroyers Vimy and Wolsey. British steamer Mona’s Queen (2756grt) departed Dover at 0948 for Boulogne escorted by destroyer HMS Venomous. Destroyer HMS Verity with steamers Maid Of Orleans and Canterbury departed Dover for evacuation duties at Calais and returned that day. Destroyers HMS Wild Swan and HMS Wolsey with British steamers St Helier and Solidarity proceeded to Dunkirk. Destroyer Wolsey evacuated one hundred wounded. Steamer St Helier stayed with the destroyers and returned to Dover. Destroyer Verity departed Dover the evening of 22 May to act as a guardship at Boulogne. The destroyer arrived early on the 23rd. Destroyers HMS Venetia and HMS Windsor departed Dover escorting British steamer Autocarrier (22grt) to Calais where they arrived at 1200. The destroyers then acted as guardships at Calais.
Demolition parties for the French Channel ports were embarked on Destroyers at Dover. Destroyer HMS Wild Swan embarked the Dunkirk party XD.E (Cdr W. E. Banks). Destroyer HMS Venomous embarked the Calais party XD.F (Cdr C. S. B. Swinley). Destroyer HMS Vimy embarked the Boulogne party XD G.(Lt Cdr A. E. P. Welman DSO DSC Rtd. Destroyer HMS Wild Swan departed Dover at 1026 and arrived at Dunkirk at 1305. Destroyer HMS Wolsey arrived at Dunkirk with steamers Isle Of Thanet and Worthing from New Haven and moored alongside destroyer Wild Swan. Destroyer Wild Swan arrived back at Dover at 1700 with seventy five airmen, eight civilians, and seventy five soldiers.
French steamer Portrieux (2257grt) was sunk by German bombing off Gravelines.
French steamer Tlemcen (4425grt), which was picking up survivors from Portrieux, collided with British steamer Efford (393grt) three miles southwest of Dover and Efford sank. French steamer Tlemcen was towed to Dover by tug Simla.
British fishing smack Teaser (9grt) was sunk by a mine four hundred yards west of Tollesbury Pier, East Blackwater. The crew of two was rescued.
Belgian yacht Aloha (181grt) was sunk in mining off Ostend.
The German 2nd Mountain Division pushes northward from Mo toward Bodø, Norway.
The British retreat from Mo i Rana north toward the British base at Bodø continues apace, and local commander Colonel Gubbins has difficulty trying to stop it. His plan is to man a defensive line at Storjord, 20 miles (32 km) south of the ferry stop at Rognan. His Scots Guards troops, though, under Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Byrnand Trappes-Lomax, are in motion toward the north and showing no signs of stopping. In fact, Trappes-Lomax is putting his men on requisitioned buses to make the trip faster and easier. The German 2d Mountain Division is hot on their heels. The bottom line is that the intended line at Storjord is passed and some other solution must be found.
Luftwaffe seaplanes transport 63 mountain troops to the Narvik area.
Destroyers HMS Firedrake and HMS Fame and French large destroyer Milan bombarded Narvik. Fame and Milan were hit by shore gunfire, and Fame retired to Skelfjord for repairs, but spent no time out of service.
German steamer Helene (2160grt) was sunk on a mine in Hubert Bay near Borkum.
The Norwegian coaster Bjarkøy was bombed and sunk at Gratangsbotn, Norway. Raised in 1944, repaired and returned to service as Bogøy.
Britain passed the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1940 putting banks, munitions production, wages, profits and work conditions under the control of the state.
Cryptologists in Bletchley Park, England broke some of the Luftwaffe Enigma code settings. Luftwaffe signals officers are notoriously lax about following even the simplest security protocols, whereas, say, Kriegsmarine signallers are much more rigorous.
In London, England, United Kingdom, a Home Morale Emergency Committee was set up to advise the Ministry of Information on how to combat defeatism in Britain. Its chairman was the diplomat, author and wit, Mr. (later Sir) Harold Nicolson, a Junior Minister for Information. Another member of the board was the Director of the National Gallery and future Television presenter, Kenneth (later Lord) Clark.
Italian Foreign Minister Count Ciano arrives at Durres, Albania, aboard the Italian cruiser Garibaldi for a tour of occupied territories.
Tension deliberately fostered by the Italian government continued in Rome today, but it was accompanied in some quarters by the hope that Germany’s smashing victory in France would permit Italy to get all she wanted without going to war.
Rumania called up 300,000 reservists and rushed most of them to the Russian frontier in fear of an impending Soviet march into Bessarabia. The move increased Rumania’s armed forces to around 2,000,000 and placed the oil-wealthy Balkan kingdom on a virtual war-time mobilization.
Yugoslavia and Greece, it was disclosed tonight, have removed their war planes from military airports lest their air force be destroyed in a sudden outbreak of war as the Polish air fleet was last September.
The Soviet men who liquidated the Polish officers at Katyn Forest — 21,000 without a single escape! — are being given medals and cash awards. The Soviets are also busy deporting relatives to Siberia based on the “last letters” the deceased men were allowed to write.
A communiqué issued in Moscow tonight on the subject of the recent Anglo-Soviet exchange of views on the possibility of opening negotiations for a commercial treaty confirms the impression reached when the question first was raised that at present no such possibility exists.
An agreement has been reached between the Spanish Government and the International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation restoring to the corporation control and management of the Spanish telephone system do the same basis as before the Spanish civil war.
In an early sign of Finlandization, the pro-Moscow Finland-Soviet Peace and Friendship Society forms.
German pilot Hauptmann Wolfgang Falck was ordered to establish Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 wing for the night fighter defense of Germany.
French cargo steamers Cap Hadid (1700grt) and Ville De Majuna (4792grt) escorted by anti-submarine trawlers HMS Leeds United and HMS Arsenal departed the Clyde for Brest. These ships formed convoy FR. 3, and were joined by steamers Rose Schaiffino and Cap Blanc, which departed Liverpool on the 23rd. The convoy arrived at Brest on the 25th.
German U-boat U-37, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Victor Oehrn, attacked the British armed merchant vessel Dunster Grange with four torpedoes and then surfaced to attack with the deck gun off of Land’s End in Southwestern England (49° 20’N, 8° 40’W). All four torpedoes missed. Attempts to sink the Dunster Grange with gunfire were repulsed by accurate return fire by the merchant ship. The 9,494-ton Dunster Grange was carrying general cargo and was bound for Liverpool, England. Destroyers HMS Montrose, HMS Wakeful, and HMS Vanquisher and sloop HMS Deptford were searching for the submarine.
The German U-boat U-101 encountered an enemy submarine in the North Atlantic, but neither boat attacked.
All three Royal Navy Home Fleet aircraft carriers are proceeding to Scapa Flow in thick fog. HMS Ark Royal in company with the destroyers HMS Brazen, HMS Encounter, and HMS Volunteer in one force, while HMS Glorious and HMS Furious form the core of a second force. The later force arrived at 2134, 23 May, and commenced refueling.
Aircraft carrier HMS Eagle, and light cruiser HMS Gloucester, which departed Simonstown, South Africa, on the 14th, and Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney, which departed Colombo on the 18th, arrived at Aden. They departed Aden on the 23rd. On the 26th, the cruisers arrived at Alexandria as reinforcements for the Mediterranean Fleet. On the 27th, aircraft carrier Eagle arrived at Alexandria.
Convoy OA.153GF departs Southend.
Convoy OB.153 departs Liverpool.
Convoy FN.177 departed Southend, escorted by destroyer HMS Valorous. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 24th.
Convoy MT.71 departed Methil, escorted by sloop HMS Hastings. The convoy arrived in the Tyne, later that day.
Convoy FS.177 departed the Tyne, escorted by sloop HMS Hastings. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 24th.
The War at Sea, Wednesday, 22 May 1940 (naval-history.net)
Destroyers FIREDRAKE and FAME and French large destroyer MILAN bombarded Narvik. FAME and MILAN were hit by shore gunfire, and FAME retired to Skelfjord for repairs, but spent no time out of service.
Battlecruiser RENOWN was on DG trials at Rosyth, escorted by destroyers HIGHLANDER, ASHANTI, and BULLDOG. Fog prevented completion of trials and she re-entered harbour.
Anti-aircraft cruiser CALCUTTA at Rosyth was ordered to Portsmouth to serve under Commander in Chief, Nore, but on the 24th, was diverted to Harwich.
Destroyers ARROW and FORTUNE departed Scapa Flow at 0700 to investigate two or three fishing vessels flying Swedish colours in 58 14N, 0 54W, reported at 1405/21st. They were not found, but there was evidence of recent fishing. The destroyers were ordered to patrol during the night on meridian 1W between 58N and 59N to search for suspicious vessels including fishing vessels, motor torpedo boats and U-boats. At 2130, ARROW sighted a periscope and FORTUNE dropped depth charges, but the contact was probably false. They left the area at 0600/23rd.
The duty destroyer at Scapa Flow was put to fifteen-minute notice from 2100 to 0600 to protect against U boats and motor torpedo boats entering Scapa Flow through the eastern entrance.
The trawlers of the 11th Anti-Submarine Striking Force and available trawlers of the 1st and 19th Anti-Submarine Groups were ordered to Harwich. This reduced the forces at Scapa Flow to the point that anti-submarine patrols were not possible.
Submarine SALMON carried out Operation LAMP, the cutting of the cable off Amsterdam, with trawler BARBADOS (211grt). The operation was covered by destroyers CODRINGTON and JAGUAR and completed on the 24th but was not successful.
Submarine STURGEON departed Blyth on patrol.
French submarine CALYPSO departed Lowestoft for Harwich.
Submarines SNAPPER and L.26 departed Harwich on patrol.
Submarine depot ship MAIDSTONE departed Greenock for Rosyth. After calling at Scapa Flow she departed on the 24th for Rosyth.
Temporary S/Lt (A)F Leach RNVR, flying a Skua of 758 Squadron from Eastleigh, was badly injured when the sliding hood of his cockpit came away in the air and struck him in the face.
French minelayer POLLUX departed Dundee for Rosyth.
French cargo steamers CAP HADID (1700grt) and VILLE DE MAJUNA (4792grt) escorted by anti-submarine trawlers LEEDS UNITED and ARSENAL departed the Clyde for Brest. These ships formed convoy FR. 3, and were joined by steamers ROSE SCHAIFFINO and CAP BLANC, which departed Liverpool on the 23rd. The convoy arrived at Brest on the 25th.
U-37 damaged British steamer DUNSTER GRANGE (9494grt) in 49 20N, 08 40W. Destroyers MONTROSE, WAKEFUL, and VANQUISHER and sloop DEPTFORD were searching for the submarine.
Destroyer WILD SWAN was near missed by a German bomb at Boulogne and suffered casualties.
Destroyers WHITSHED and VIMIERA escorted British steamers BIARRITZ (2388grt) and QUEEN OF THE CHANNEL (1162grt), carrying an anti-tank company and one company of the 69th Anti-Tank Regiment, to Boulogne departing Dover at 0520/22nd. WHITSHED embarked refugees and the steamers embarked 800 personnel, who were returned to Dover. British steamer CITY OF CHRISTCHURCH (6009grt), carrying tanks, arrived later on the 22nd at Calais escorted by destroyers VIMY and WOLSEY.
British steamer MONA’S QUEEN (2756grt) departed Dover at 0948 for Boulogne escorted by destroyer VENOMOUS.
Destroyer VERITY with steamers MAID OF ORLEANS and CANTERBURY departed Dover for evacuation duties at Calais and returned that day.
Destroyers WILD SWAN and WOLSEY with British steamers ST HELIER and SOLIDARITY proceeded to Dunkirk.
Destroyer WOLSEY evacuated one hundred wounded. Steamer ST HELIER stayed with the destroyers and returned to Dover.
Destroyer VERITY departed Dover the evening of 22 May to act as a guardship at Boulogne. The destroyer arrived early on the 23rd.
Destroyers VENETIA and WINDSOR departed Dover escorting British steamer AUTOCARRIER (22grt) to Calais where they arrived at 1200. The destroyers then acted as guardships at Calais.
Demolition parties for the French Channel ports were embarked on Destroyers at Dover. Destroyer WILD SWAN embarked the Dunkirk party XD.E (Cdr W. E. Banks). Destroyer VENOMOUS embarked the Calais party XD.F (Cdr C. S. B. Swinley). Destroyer VIMY embarked the Boulogne party XD.G (Lt Cdr A. E. P. Welman DSO DSC Rtd).
Destroyer WILD SWAN departed Dover at 1026 and arrived at Dunkirk at 1305.
Destroyer WOLSEY arrived at Dunkirk with steamers ISLE OF THANET and WORTHING from New Haven and moored alongside destroyer WILD SWAN.
Destroyer WILD SWAN arrived back at Dover at 1700 with seventy-five airmen, eight civilians, and seventy-five soldiers.
Convoy FN.177 departed Southend, escorted by destroyer VALOROUS. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 24th.
Convoy MT.71 departed Methil, escorted by sloop HASTINGS. The convoy arrived in the Tyne, later that day.
Convoy FS.177 departed the Tyne, escorted by sloop HASTINGS. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 24th.
French steamer PORTRIEUX (2257grt) was sunk by German bombing off Gravelines.
French steamer TLEMCEN (4425grt), which was picking up survivors from PORTRIEUX, collided with British steamer EFFORD (393grt) three miles southwest of Dover and EFFORD sank.
French steamer TLEMCEN was towed to Dover by tug SIMLA.
British fishing smack TEASER (9grt) was sunk by a mine four hundred yards west of Tollesbury Pier, East Blackwater.
The crew of two were rescued.
Belgian yacht ALOHA (181grt) was sunk in mining off Ostend.
Aircraft carrier EAGLE, light cruiser GLOUCESTER, which departed Simonstown on the 14th,and Australian light cruiser HMAS SYDNEY, which departed Colombo on the 18th, arrived at Aden.
They departed Aden on the 23rd. On the 26th, the cruisers arrived at Alexandria as reinforcements for the Mediterranean Fleet.
On the 27th, aircraft carrier EAGLE arrived at Alexandria.
German steamer HELENE (2160grt) was sunk on a mine in Hubert Bay near Borkum.
Today in Washington, President Roosevelt conferred with Alf M. Landon, Secretary Wallace, Sumner Welles, Under-Secretary of State, and with Secretary Morgenthau and others on the defense program. He sent to Congress a Fifth Reorganization Order transferring the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization from the Department of Labor to the Department of Justice and the nomination of Sumner T. Pike to be a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Senate passed the $1,823,252,724 Army Appropriation Bill and recessed at 5:34 PM until noon tomorrow. The Appropriations Committee approved the $1,458,756,728 Navy Appropriation Bill and the Military Affairs Committee approved a bill removing limitations on army munitions. and aircraft construction. The Foreign Relations Committee killed the Pepper resolution to permit sale of American military air equipment to the Allies.
The House considered the Relief Bill, received the Dies bill designed to strengthen the immigration laws and providing for deportation of aliens under certain circumstances and adjourned at 6:09 PM until noon tomorrow.
Alf M. Landon demanded a “no third term” pledge from President Roosevelt today as the terms of Republican participation in any coalition defense directorate, and the president asserted, in a coldly polite reply, he had no time for “political statements.” The exchange occurred after Landon, 1936 Republican presidential candidate, had lunched with the chief executive at the latter’s invitation. There had been speculation the luncheon might lead to a “coalition cabinet.”
Congress, meanwhile, was working swiftly to provide the hundreds of millions which Mr. Roosevelt requested for the armament expansion. The Senate passed, 74 to 0, the $1,823,254,624 army bill containing regular appropriations and most of the money which Mr. Roosevelt asked for that service and its air corps. The measure now goes back to the house for action on senate changes. The senate appropriations committee approved and thus made ready for immediate senate consideration a $1,458,000,000 measure covering regular naval appropriations and emergency requests as well. The House Naval Committee approved a bill authorizing the navy to increase its total of airplanes from 3,350 to 10,000 and the number of pilots from 3,000 to 16,000. The measure also empowers the navy to spend $144,000,000 for air bases.
In a reorganization message marked “urgent,” President Roosevelt sent to Congress today a plan to shift the immigration and naturalization service from the labor to the justice department so authorities may “deal quickly” with spies and saboteurs. Chairman Dies, Texas Democrat, of the House Un-American Activities Committee introduced a bill to bar all alien Nazis, Fascists, and Communists from the country and to report any now here, along with aliens whom police certify to be revolutionary agitators. The president said he had not planned to submit another reorganization plan at this session but “the startling sequence of international events which has occurred since then has necessitated a review of the measures required for the nation’s safety” and “this has revealed a pressing need” for the transfer. “Much can be said for the retention of these functions in the department of labor during normal times,” the message continued. “I am convinced, however, under existing conditions the immigration and naturalization activities can best contribute to the national well-being only if they are closely integrated with the activities of the department of justice.”
The government decided tonight to send the liner President Roosevelt to Ireland to bring home Americans and gave notice to Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Holland and Norway lest they molest it. The ship will sail Thursday night from No York for Galway, Ireland. Secretary Hull telegraphed American envoys at London, Paris, Berlin, Brussels, The Hague and Oslo to inform the governments to which they are accredited “the government of the United States expects this vessel to make its eastward and its westward voyages without interruption or molestation by the air, naval or military forces of any belligerent.”
Striking back at Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh for his criticism of Roosevelt administration foreign policy, Senator Byrnes, South Carolina Democrat, asserted tonight Lindbergh was “no more qualified” to speak on the subject than “Wrong Way” Corrigan or any other aviator who may fly the Atlantic ocean.” He added “fifth columns are already active in America” and “those who consciously or unconsciously retard the efforts of this government to provide for the defense of the American people are the fifth column’s most effective fellow travelers.”
The liner President Roosevelt will sail from New York, probably tomorrow night, for Ireland to bring back Americans stranded in the European war zone, the State Department announced tonight. Belligerents were warned not to molest her.
President Roosevelt’s plan for 50,000 American war planes would involve the training of three pilots for each plane in order to develop their full effectiveness, it was said yesterday by Captain E.V. Rickenbacker, World War ace and president and general manager of Eastern Air Lines.
The Military Training Camps Association, which includes leading New York business and professional men who organized the Plattsburg movement for training officers in the World War, adopted a resolution at a meeting last night urging the immediate adoption of universal compulsory military training by the Federal Government, with universal service for both men and women in time of war.
Release of the forces of free enterprise as a means of facilitating the building of a national defense and promoting a sound economic prosperity was urged last night by speakers at a meeting of the National Industrial Conference Board at the Hotel Waldorf-Astoria.
Harry L. Hopkins, Secretary of Commerce, has been a guest at the White House for ten days or more and there were indications today that he was playing an important role in advising the Administration on the part industrialists should be allowed to take in the drive for defense preparations.
Major League Baseball:
The Dodgers’ Freddy Fitzsimmons, fat, but not yet forty, who fits nicely into Lippy Leo Durocher’s schemes as a spot pitcher, added another furrow to Frankie Frisch’s brow yesterday in the rain at Ebbets Field, where he knuckle-balled the Pirates into submission by a 3–1 count. It was the fifth straight setback for the Pittsburgh club.
The New York Giants edged the Reds, 6–4, as Babe Young singled in the decisive runs in the eigth inning. Carl Hubbell outdueled Paul Derringer to get the win. George Selkirk added another home run. In all, the Yankees tallied 16 hits.
Walloping four of Del Baker’s hurlers for sixteen hits, the Yankees tamed the Tigers by 8–2 today and sneaked once again out of the cellar. Babe Dahlgren went 5-for-5 for the Yankees with a homer and four singles.
The Indians beat the league-leading Red Sox today at their own game — slugging — and blasted a 9–6 victory which lifted the Tribe within a game and a half of first place.
The Senators got more long-distance hits than singles today as they made their first appearance of the season in St. Louis, and defeated the Browns, 9–2. In a 13-hit offensive against Jack Kramer, Johnny Whitehead, who couldn’t get any one out in the eighth inning, and John Niggeling, Washington included six doubles — two each by Rick Ferrell and Cecil Travis — and a home run by Buddy Lewis.
The White Sox amassed 18 hits today to defeat the Philadelphia Athletics, 10–1, behind the seven-hit pitching of Lefty Edgar Smith. It was Chicago’s third straight home victory. Mike Kreevich, Sox outfielder, got four hits in five times at bat, while Luke Appling and Larry Rosenthal got three hits each off George Caster, who pitched the whole game for Philadelphia.
Pittsburgh Pirates 1, Brooklyn Dodgers 3
Philadelphia Athletics 1, Chicago White Sox 10
Boston Red Sox 6, Cleveland Indians 9
New York Yankees 8, Detroit Tigers 2
Cincinnati Reds 4, New York Giants 6
Washington Senators 9, St. Louis Browns 2
Concern over the influx of Germans into Mexico has spurted a government investigation of possible fifth column activities, it was reported reliably today.
The Chilean cargo liner Palena came ashore in a storm at Valparaiso, Chile, and was wrecked.
Japanese bombers launched a heavy attack on Chungking, China.
In an answer giving Japan more than she had asked for, the German Ambassador, Major General Eugen Ott, informed Foreign Minister Hachiro Arita today that the German Government was “not interested in the Netherlands Indies problem.”
The Australian Government approves formation of the 8th Infantry Division.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 114.75 (+0.62)
Born:
Bernard Shaw, American television news journalist (CBS, ABC), and first anchor of CNN, in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2022).
Mick Tingelhoff, NFL center (Pro Football Hall of Fame, inducted 2015; NFL Champions-Vikings, 1969 [lost NFL-AFL Super Bowl IV]; Pro Bowl, 1964-1969; Minnesota Vikings), in Lexington, Nebraska (d. 2021).
Michael Sarrazin, Canadian actor (“Seduction”, “They Shoot Horses Don’t They”), in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada (d. 2011).
Naval Construction:
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type VIIC U-boats U-599, U-600, U-601, U-602, U-603, U-604, U-605, U-606, U-607, U-608, U-609, and U-610 are ordered from Blohm & Voss, Hamburg (werk 575–586).
The Royal Navy Flower-class corvettes HMS Heather (K 69) and HMS Rhododendron (K 78) are laid down by Harland & Wolff Ltd. (Belfast, Northern Ireland).
The Royal Navy “O”-class destroyer HMS Obedient (G 48) is laid down by William Denny & Brothers (Dumbarton, Scotland).
The Royal Navy “N”-class destroyer HMS Nonpareil (G 16) is laid down by William Denny & Brothers (Dumbarton, Scotland). She is transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy before completion and commissions as the Koninklijke Marine destroyer HrMs (HNMS) Tjerk Hiddes (G 16).
The Royal Navy Tree-class minesweeping trawler HMS Almond (T 14) is launched by the Ardrossan Dockyard (Ardrossan, Scotland); completed by Plenty.
The Royal Navy Flower-class corvette HMS Mallow (K 81) is launched by Harland & Wolff Ltd. (Belfast, Northern Ireland).
The Royal Navy “N”-class destroyer (flotilla leader) HMS Napier (G 97) is launched by the Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. (Govan, Scotland). She is transferred before commissioning to the Royal Australian Navy, entering service as HMAS Napier (G 97).
History Diaries 